Dr. Laura will entertain at the Fox Theatre.

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Nationally syndicated radio personality Laura Schlessinger (heard locally on KJLL 1330-AM) will be at the Fox Theatre Friday, giving a talk titled "Dr. Laura: In My Never To Be Humble Opinion."

It's an appropriate name.

We caught up with the often controversial commentator, and in a 20-minute phone interview, she declared herself to be "the most successful woman in radio history" and even said, "When I travel into a town, the weather usually gets better" — suggesting that her power extends beyond the airwaves and actually bends the laws of nature itself.

QSo what brings you to Tucson?

A"I'm going to be doing my one-woman show that I've been doing for over a year. We got so much feedback immediately by the (Davis-Monthan) Air Force Base and (Fort Huachuca ) Army base about coming in, and people volunteering to give us little flags, so we decided to call it '800 Flags over Tucson,' so we're getting military; they're going to be in the balcony. We're just going to fill the balcony with military. They deserve it."

"It's sort of a mix of my life, funny things about my life, dramatic things about my life and how they have impacted what I do on the air. Also, people like to know stuff about me, and they'll actually get the real scoop as opposed to all the lies you can read on the Internet. Also, people come in and they have 4-by-5 cards where they put in their own questions. So I weave in answering their questions with my stories about my day, how I do the show, my life. It's not a lecture, and it's not scripted, so it's different all the time."

How are things going on the radio side of your career?

"I just got nominated for the Radio Hall of Fame. From year to year, talk-radio ratings went down about 20 percent while I was the only nationally syndicated show to go up. We're doing good. People are getting a little tired of the ranting and raving and the screaming and the vitriol between Democrats and Republicans and all that stuff. The average person waking up in the morning, that's not on the top of their brains. What's on the top of their brains is their kids, their jobs, their family, their marriage, their in-laws, their health — things that are closer."

What do you make of the controversy involving Don Imus?

"I've been on the receiving end of crap, so I understand what it means. But I got to tell you, my crap was political, not anything I did. His crap is something he did. I cannot fathom how he could say what he said. If you have negative feelings about any group of people, whatever, just keep them to yourselves. But this is a group of women who are in college, working hard, they're jocks — that's doubly working hard! To dismiss them was so disgusting, and I think for a talk-show host to do such a thing is so horrendous. I have no problem with the heat he's taking."

As someone who has attracted criticism for your statements, what's that feeling like?

"You are totally helpless. Because the media's left, so they take sides and are not fair and balanced and they don't check their sources. They do not corroborate information. I have utter disrespect for journalists, and most people do."

"Defensiveness. How can you be so hateful about somebody who's basically saying, 'I'm protecting the lives and the well-being of children?'"

In 2004, Ann Coulter was speaking in Tucson, and someone tried to throw a pie at her. Hopefully that won't happen to you.

"I'm sure it won't. She's very different than me. Her focus is politics, and she's ferocious about it, so it provokes a certain reaction. By and large, people know I'm there trying to help people."